A 38-year-old woman in the US has had a giant 15 centimetre hairball removed from her stomach, after developing sudden vomiting, constipation and a large abdomen. She is one of the 88 reported cases of Rapunzel syndrome - caused by people plucking and eating their own hair.

She had lost more than 15lbs after having no appetite in the previous eight months and by the time she reached hospital she was unable to keep down any food. The doctors ran several tests, but none revealed the cause of her symptoms, according to the report. A blood test did, however, show that she had low levels of protein in her blood.

The doctors suspected that the woman's symptoms were likely being caused by something obstructing her digestive tract, and decided to operate.

Surgeons found two hairballs lodged in her stomach - one was a 6x4in (15x10cm) ball of densely packed hair in the stomach and then another 1.5x1in (4x3cm) hairball in the small intestines.

The blockages were safely removed and the woman was given a diet high in protein to help her recover.

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What exactly is Rapunzel syndrome?

The woman has been diagnosed with Rapunzel syndrome, a very rare condition named after the Grimms fairy tale character, and the condition is associated with trichophagia, where people compulsively eat their own hair, and trichotillomania, where people have an urge to pull out their own hair.

It is predominately found in children and adolescents - 40% of Rapunzels are under the age of 10. When the hair is swallowed, a hairball - called a bezoar - extends from the stomach, with it's 'tail' in the small intestine. Hairballs are accumulations of human or vegetable fibres that accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract. They increase in size because hair and fibre is not absorbed, and cause abdominal pain and nausea.

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